Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Sep;37(3):562-573.
doi: 10.1111/mve.12653. Epub 2023 Apr 13.

Thermal preference of adult mosquitoes (Culicidae) and biting midges (Ceratopogonidae) at different altitudes in Switzerland

David O H Hug  1 , Raffael I Stegmayer  1 , Wolf U Blanckenhorn  2 , Niels O Verhulst  1
Affiliations
Free article

Thermal preference of adult mosquitoes (Culicidae) and biting midges (Ceratopogonidae) at different altitudes in Switzerland

David O H Hug et al. Med Vet Entomol. 2023 Sep.
Free article

Abstract

Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) and biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are among the most important vectors of human and veterinary pathogens. For modelling the distribution of these pathogens, entomological aspects are essential, which in turn are highly dependent on environmental factors, such as temperature. In this study, mosquitoes and biting midges were sampled in multiple microclimates at two low (360, 480 meters above sea level, m.a.s.l.) and two high (1250, 1530 m.a.s.l.) altitude locations in Switzerland. Sets of various traps (CO2 -baited CDC, LED-UV, resting boxes, oviposition cups) equipped with dataloggers were placed in transects at five sites with similar vegetation at each location. Only the CDC and the LED-UV traps collected enough insects for analyses. Taxonomic diversity was greater for mosquitoes but lower for biting midges at lower altitudes. Both mosquitoes and biting midges had a thermal preference. Culicoides preferred the traps with warmer microclimate, especially at lower altitudes, whereas mosquito preferences depended on the species, but not on altitude. Relative humidity had a significant positive impact on catches of biting midges but not mosquitoes. To obtain better data on thermal preferences of resting and ovipositing vectors in addition to host seeking individuals, new and improved collecting methods are needed.

Keywords: Ceratopogonidae; Culicidae; behaviour; microclimate; temperature preference.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Barton, M., Porter, W. & Kearney, M. (2014) Behavioural thermoregulation and the relative roles of convection and radiation in a basking butterfly. Journal of Thermal Biology, 41, 65-71.
    1. Bates, D., Machler, M., Bolker, B. & Walker, S. (2015) Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software, 67, 1-48.
    1. Bertoli, C.I., Scannapieco, A.C., Sambucetti, P. & Norry, F.M. (2010) Direct and correlated responses to chill-coma recovery selection in drosophila buzzatii. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 134, 154-159.
    1. Bishop, A.L., McKenzie, H.J., Barchia, I.M. & Harris, A.M. (1996) Effect of temperature regimes on the development, survival and emergence of Culicoides brevitarsis kieffer (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) in bovine dung. Australian Journal of Entomology, 35, 361-368.
    1. Blanckenhorn, W. (1999) Different growth responses to temperature and resource limitation in three fly species with similar life histories. Evolutionary Ecology, 13, 395-409.

Publication types